


The End is Where We Begin

by writteninblood



Series: Never the Same [12]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: All the Fluff tags, Complete, Complicated Relationships, Dadwald, Dadward, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Making Out, Movie Night, POV Edward Nygma, POV Martin Cobblepot, POV Oswald Cobblepot, Reconciliation, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 21:40:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14819366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writteninblood/pseuds/writteninblood
Summary: Oswald and Edward finally start anew.





	The End is Where We Begin

**Author's Note:**

> The final instalment! This part is fluffy as hell, but I hope you like it. :) ~~I think we've all suffered enough canon related trauma tbh~~

Even Oswald isn’t stupid enough to not know what Edward is trying to tell him this time. Even though he is terrified of what might come next, he tries to commit the entire scene to memory, so he can play it over and over again in his head later. 

Oswald remembers the fear he’d felt when he’d tried to tell Edward, after he’d first realised he loved him, and has an idea of what Edward must be experiencing now. He wishes he could help, but this is Edward’s moment, and Oswald needs to let him do this. 

He’s never seen Edward like this before. His breaths are erratic and there’s a clear sheen of sweat on his forehead. Edward is looking down at their hands, clearly trying to master himself, and Oswald feels a swell of affection for him, squeezing his hand encouragingly. At the gesture, Edward looks up, and gives him the smallest of smiles. And then he says it. 

“I love you.” The words are croaky, rough, but unmistakable.

Oswald feels a smile spreading across his face as they stare at each other, seemingly too scared to move.

“I haven’t done this before,” Edward says, after endless minutes. “But I think this is the part where you tell me you feel the same.” He smiles nervously. 

Oswald could slap himself across the face. How could he leave Ed hanging like that?

“I do,” Oswald says in his rush to get the words out, cringing at the fact his brain’s first choice of words make it sound like they’re getting married. “Feel the same way, I mean.” _Really?_ “I love you, too.” _Finally._ Oswald closes his eyes with embarrassment. He should leave the eloquence to Edward, clearly. 

When he opens his eyes, Edward has moved a lot closer. _This_ is the part he was afraid of. He’s less afraid of the action itself than Edward’s disappointment in the experience. Edward’s face is getting closer and closer, and it’s clear he’s leaning in for a kiss, and Oswald fumbles to move backwards, further into the sofa, eyes wildly searching for something, anything, that will delay this moment and stop Oswald making a complete idiot of himself. _The movie_.

“Don’t you want to watch--?”

But Edward, completely unruffled, just leans in closer again, one knee on the sofa so he can face Oswald properly. He places a hand lightly on Oswald’s cheek. He’s mere inches away.

“Oswald.” He says, looking at him seriously. That’s his chief of staff face. “You’re panicking.”

Oswald fights the urge to roll his eyes. “Of _course_ I’m panicking. The love of my life is about to kiss me. Even _you_ would panic in that situation.” He’s surprised at how much snap there is to his voice, but Edward just seems amused.

“I _am_ panicking. I just hide it better.” 

He leans in closer, brushing his lips against Oswald’s. His heart is thrumming like a hummingbird’s wings. Oswald automatically parts his lips. 

“ _Breathe_.” 

Oswald only has time to draw one calming breath before Edward catches Oswald’s bottom lip in both of his. A desperate noise escapes Edward as he moves his lips across Oswald’s, the sound stirring something deep within him. Oswald tries to mimic Edward’s movements—wants to avoid their first kiss being abysmally disappointing—and he daringly gives Edward’s bottom lip a little tug with his teeth. The frantic sound the action pulls from Edward sends a shivering fire through Oswald’s veins, and instinct takes over. Threading his fingers into Edward’s hair, he pulls him closer into a deep, open mouthed kiss, sliding his tongue into his mouth. When their tongues meet, the whole pace of the thing changes, the two of them suddenly desperate to devour each other. Oswald pulls at Edward’s hair; Edward’s hand moves slowly up his thigh, making his muscles jump. His hand gets closer and closer to _touching_ him, and Oswald moans wantonly into Edward’s mouth. 

Edward suddenly breaks away from him, removing his hand from the top of his thigh. Oswald’s hands hang in mid-air as he stares at Edward, dazed and confused. What is he doing?

“What are you doing?”

“Sorry, I got a little carried away.”

Oswald blinks, uncomprehending. His lips are too far away.

“You’re too far away.” Oswald states. This situation needs to be rectified immediately.

And with that, he grabs the lapels of Edward’s jacket and pulls the man towards him. Edward’s movements as he attempts to follow and straddle Oswald are stumbling and clumsy, and he laughs as he all but falls into Oswald’s lap. 

Oswald pulls him down for a kiss straight away; now he knows just how good kissing is, he can’t get enough. Edward grins into the kiss, hands on either side of Oswald’s face. 

The movie comes to a stop, and the room is bathed in almost complete darkness. There’s no sound except for their breaths and their kisses, and it becomes impossibly more intimate. With the cloak of darkness, Oswald feels bolder, and breaks away from Edward’s lips to plant kisses under his jaw and down his neck. He can only get so far, given the collar of Edward’s shirt. His hands go automatically to loosen his tie and undo the buttons. Edward doesn’t stop him, and Oswald wrenches his shirt open and places kisses on every bare bit of skin he can find. 

“ _Oswald_ ,” Edward breathes as his hips buck forward. The movement brings them flush against each other.

Oswald freezes. _This_ is new, and not something they can do here. Oswald has to take a moment to gather his wits and pull himself out of his stupor; he can hardly think about anything other than how badly he wants Edward. But they can’t do this here, on the couch. With an unlocked door. 

He has gone from being worried about his inexperience to being unable to stop; it just feels so incredible, and the fact he is the reason Edward is making such breathtaking sounds—the power and confidence it fills him with is intoxicating. Oswald wants to make him feel as good as possible. He wants _more_.

He leans back to look at Ed’s outline. He’s panting a little, and Oswald has a _this is actually happening_ moment. This is reality. It’s bizarre. And completely wonderful. 

They regard each other incredulously in the silence. 

“Will you come upstairs with me?” He’s a stranger to his own voice like this: hoarse and full of lust. 

“ _Yes_.” Edward leans down to give him a cheeky kiss on the lips before pushing himself off Oswald’s lap and standing up. He holds out a hand to Oswald, and helps him up. 

Oswald doesn’t let go of his hand, and he leads him up the stairs and out of the basement. 

“Ah, Mr Cobblepot…” Mr. Penn says from his position doing inventory at the bar.

“Not now Mr. Penn I’m very busy. I trust you can run things tonight.”

Oswald and Edward are already halfway up the stairs before Mr. Penn can respond. 

At last, Oswald shuts the door to his room. The city lights from outside mean he can see Edward better. He’s quite dishevelled, loose tie, open collar, hair mussed. The lapels of his suit sparkle as his chest heaves. He looks incredible. 

Oswald presses him against the back of the door and kisses him urgently. Edward’s arms immediately wrap around him. 

“Oswald,” Edward manages to say between kisses. Since it seems he wants to speak, he returns to the skin he managed to bare earlier, placing hot kisses along Edward’s collar bone. Edward’s fingers bunch in the back of Oswald’s waistcoat. 

“I know that perhaps, because of our history, we should take things slowly, but—”

Oswald stops and steps back to look at him. The important thing about that sentence was the but—Edward doesn’t want to slow down, but recognises the need to be careful about how they proceed now. It is encouraging that despite the fact they’re both quite clearly desperate to finally satisfy each other, Edward is still worried about things derailing, somehow. It shows he wants this to work. 

“Slowly?” Oswald looks as though he’s actually considering it for a moment so he can observe Edward’s reaction. He doesn’t look happy. That settles it. “I think we’ve waited long enough. Take your clothes off. Immediately.”

That shocks a laugh out of Edward, who looks uncharacteristically scandalised. 

“I don’t know why you’re laughing, Ed,” Oswald continues, folding his arms and looking Edward up and down. “This is a very serious matter.”

Edward can’t stop smiling, and Oswald loves it. But Edward is a smart man, and Oswald can tell from the meaningful way Edward looks at him, that he knows Oswald is trying to rid him of all his uncertainties, stop him from worrying. He did genuinely want Edward to take his clothes off though, sue him. Perhaps when they’ve been together longer… 

Edward steps forward and envelopes Oswald in a hug. He sighs and unfolds his arms, holding Edward too. If this is all Edward wants to do tonight, it’s enough. More than enough. Edward _loves_ him. Isn’t that crazy?

After a few moments, Edward steps out of Oswald’s embrace, leaning down to say seductively against his lips, “very well.”

He keeps his eyes on Oswald as he starts taking off his suit jacket. His smile is devious--he never was one to back down from a challenge.

He is actually going to take all his clothes off. 

This is the best night of Oswald’s life.

*

Oswald is awoken by an insistent tapping sound. _Taptap_. _Taptaptap_. Why is that rhythm important?

As he slowly comes to, he realises it’s someone knocking on the door. And then he realises that someone is Martin, doing their special knock.

He realises with a dawning horror that he forgot to lock the door last night. And himself and Edward are _very_ naked. 

“Give me a few minutes, Martin!”

Edward, who’s sprawled across Oswald’s front, is disturbed by Oswald’s loud reply. 

“Ed, wake up, Martin’s outside and I didn’t lock the door!” 

“ _What?_ ” Edward immediately starts panicking, his arms flailing around for his glasses. Oswald’s already hurrying over to the drawer his pyjamas are in. He dresses himself and throws a pyjama shirt to Ed, who’s searching for his underwear. He’s trying to keep a sheet around his lower half just in case Martin walks in, but he trips over the bedding as he tries to shimmy into his boxers. Oswald claps a hand to his mouth to muffle the sound of his laughter, as he gets back into bed. Edward grins sheepishly as he finally grabs the shirt and hurriedly buttons it up. 

“What should I do now?”

Oswald smirks and holds an arm out, pulling the sheets back on Edward’s side. “Get back in here. Kids see their parents in the same bed all the time. This is normal.”

Edward gives him a look that can only be described as cautiously hopeful as he curls up again next to him. But Oswald doesn’t have time to work out what it was he said to make him look that way because Martin is entering the room. 

When he sees that Edward is with him, the boy’s eyes widen. 

_I just came to see if you were okay._

It’s obvious what he means by that. He wanted to make sure things hadn’t gone to hell again and that Oswald wasn’t upset. Oswald really loves his boy. 

“Everything’s fine. Did you sleep okay?”

Martin nods and waves hello to Edward.

“Morning, Martin,” Edward responds. They both seem nervous. Oswald supposes this opens up a completely new dynamic for them. Edward sits up so he can use his hands to sign properly.

_How is your science fair project coming along?_

Martin perks up instantly, now he’s on safer, less awkward ground. 

_I made a lot of progress. I can show it to you later if you like?_

It’s Tuesday. Edward is never at the Iceberg Lounge on Tuesdays. He glances at Oswald, expression tentative. Oswald raises his eyebrows and smiles as if to say, _if you want to be here, you can be_. What he’s thinking though is, _stay with me, always_. 

Edward turns back to Martin. _That sounds great. I can’t wait to see it._

Martin grins at them both. Oswald supposes it has taken a long time for his plan to fall into place. 

_I have to get to school. See you later._

He waves at them both before turning around and leaving, closing the door behind him. Edward sags against Oswald. 

“Are you all right?” Oswald asks, playing with a strand of Edward’s hair.

“I just really hope he’s okay with this. I mean, I know he planned it all along, but to actually see it…”

“Didn’t you see how happy he was? He wants you around as much as possible. I do too.”

“Do you?” Edward asks, leaning up to look at him, amusement in his tone. “Whatever for?”

Oswald raises an eyebrow. “I can show you, again, if you’d like.” He’s constantly surprising himself--he never thought he’d be able to say things like that without sounding idiotic. It seems Edward is bringing out a side of him he never knew existed.

Edward smiles coyly, and it turns into a laughter as Oswald rolls him onto his back and starts crawling down his body, underneath the covers. In the corner of his eye, he sees the pieces of the suit Oswald had worn the night before, strewn across the floor. It makes him laugh joyfully when he remembers the haste with which Oswald tried to undress himself after Edward had. He’d cocked his head at Oswald as if to say, “now you.” He is quite sure Oswald lost a button or two. 

His underwear comes back off, and his laughter turns into a moan as he arches his back and grasps the sheets desperately. They’re both new to this but they’re learning quickly. Edward wants to see, so he throws back the covers. The sight that meets his eyes has him immediately throwing his head back and cursing. Oswald will be the death of him.

It’s the first time he’s thought of it that way round. And it’s the last thing he thinks for a while.

*

“Mr. Evans, who was arrested Monday afternoon, allegedly stole paintings from some of the most prestigious museums in Europe. It is understood the priceless works of art were kept in a secret room only Mr. Evans knew of, among items police said were designed for recreational use…” Edward drops the Gotham Gazette on the breakfast table and laughs in that open-mouthed way he does when he’s especially pleased. “Recreational use!” He says, using air quotes. “You should have _seen_ it, Oswald. It was like walking into Stocks and Bondage.”

Oswald, who’d been leaning his head on the back of his hand, simply staring at Edward contentedly, is jolted out of his adoring gaze. “Stocks and…?”

Edward clears his throat. “It’s not important, not yet anyway. At least the GCPD have something else to do now other than try to chase me down. It was getting rather tiresome looking over my shoulder. Now I can do everything _properly_. It’s always more fun when I’m one step ahead.”

Oswald has gone back to staring, his breakfast untouched. 

“ _Oswald_. Are you even listening to me?” Edward asks, snapping his fingers in front of Oswald’s face.

“Of course I am.” He sits up straighter and reaches for his coffee cup. 

“That one’s gone cold, let me pour you another.”

Oswald’s heart flutters at his attentiveness. He’s so happy in this moment, he hardly knows how to manage it. 

“I love you, Ed.”

“It’s just a cup of coffee,” Edward says, though he’s smiling. Oswald covers Edward’s hand on the table, and lifts it up to kiss it. When Oswald lets his hand go, Edward hooks his index finger underneath Oswald’s chin, in a gesture of almost unbearable tenderness. Both their hands are capable of immense destruction and pain, not least to each other. It makes the gentleness of their touches now impossibly more profound. The war is over.

“Are you sure you can’t stay today? I can have someone fetch you a change of clothes…”

Edward takes his hand away and helps himself to a piece of toast. “No I’m afraid not, there are some things I have to do. Gloating in front of Jim Gordon for starters.”

Oswald smirks and takes a sip of his coffee. He wonders if his over-excited stomach can handle any food. He knows it’s ridiculous, but he’s not ready for Edward to leave. They finally got together, but it’s almost as if Edward walking out the door will break the spell. He won’t voice any of this of course, he doesn’t want to sound crazy. But after everything they’ve been through, it’s difficult not to worry about the possibility of everything falling apart again, or something coming between them. There’s just so much that could happen in a few hours. Edward had gotten beaten up just a few days ago--what if that happened again? What if Jim finds some evidence that Edward framed Mr. Evans? He can’t go to prison when they’ve only just confessed their feelings to one another…

“ _Oswald_. Stop worrying.”

Oswald pouts his lips, preparing to explain himself in a way that doesn’t make him seem like he can’t live without Edward. “I wasn’t--”

“I _know_ you, Oswald. You’re worrying. You don’t need to. I’m not going anywhere.” He puts down his toast. “Well, figuratively, I mean. Literally I am, but only for a few hours. I’ll come back to you. I promise.”

Oswald nods, reassured, and reaches for some fruit. He doesn’t see Edward’s quiet smile.

*

Oswald is in his office with Mr. Penn when Edward returns that afternoon, about half an hour before Martin’s due to return home from school. Edward is allowed to just walk in now, Oswald instructed security to let him past, no questions asked, not even about the flowers he’s holding (having decided to take Lee's advice after all). He could have _anything_ in there. He does knock on the door before he enters though, grinning widely when he sees Oswald. 

“Good afternoon Mr. Nygma.” Mr. Penn says, noticing him first. Oswald’s head snaps up, his business face slowly melting into something softer. 

“We’ll continue this tomorrow, Mr. Penn. I trust you’ll be okay to run the club again tonight?”

“Of course. Enjoy the rest of your day, Mr. Cobblepot.” 

Oswald grins up at Edward as Mr. Penn gathers his papers. Edward knows what Oswald is thinking. 

As soon as Mr. Penn is out of the office, Edward hurries to close the distance between them. Oswald comes around to the other side of the desk. Their lips meet, and Edward presses Oswald against the edge of the tabletop. He gently drops the flowers onto the desk behind Oswald; his hands are needed elsewhere. 

“You’ll stay again tonight, won’t you?” Oswald asks, roaming his hands frantically all over Edward.

“Of course,” he says breathlessly. 

“I want you in my bed,” Oswald purrs directly into his ear. Edward shivers. 

“Only in your bed?”

Oswald’s eyes go comically wide and Edward can’t help but laugh. 

“I brought you flowers.” He says, picking them up again and presenting them to Oswald. His eyes light up. 

“You old romantic,” Oswald says, as if he’s not one himself. It’s obvious he’s delighted.

Edward raises his eyebrows. “Old?”

Oswald looks sheepish as he lays the flowers gently on the table. Edward steps closer to him again, taking his hands in both of his.

“Do we need to talk about this, Oswald?”

“What do you mean?”

Edward is worried about saying this, feels as though it's coming off as if he's paranoid--but it scares him more that they might be keeping things from each other. He really wants to do everything right this time, and that means they need to become more practised at communicating their thoughts and feelings with each other.

“This…us. Do you think we should discuss it, and what it means for us?”

Oswald gives it a couple of moment’s thought.

“I think we’ve made ourselves clear. Myself, when we were trapped in the basement, and you last night. I don’t think there’s more to say at present, except that we need to be completely open with each other, and that if a problem arises, we need to address it. No more lies, no more assumptions. This needs to be completely transparent to work. Do you agree?”

“Completely.” Edward gives Oswald a closed mouth kiss. “I had an idea.”

“You’ve got a problem to discuss already?”

Edward rolls his eyes. Trust Oswald to jump to the worst possible conclusion. “No, of course not. I was just thinking, after dinner, we could watch a movie, the three of us. I feel bad that Martin missed out last night, and since I’m staying, I thought we could do it tonight instead.”

“What a wonderful idea. Martin will love it.” Oswald stops stroking the petals of the flowers and pulls Edward close to him, but instead of going to kiss him again, he wraps him in a warm embrace, nuzzling closer every so often. When Martin returns home from school that’s how he finds them. Even after Martin enters the room, Oswald and Edward don’t fully part. They turn to face him, but they keep an arm on each other’s lower backs, for reassurance. Edward thinks they will probably be reassuring each other like this for a long time. Possibly always. 

*

Oswald and Edward are seated on the sofa in the basement, waiting for Martin to choose a movie and come downstairs to join them. 

Edward is crowding into Oswald’s space, pressing him into his usual corner of the sofa. Edward can’t seem to stop kissing him, and Oswald would be lying if he said he wasn’t happy about it. He is still somewhat stunned, can’t believe this is actually happening. He can’t wait to have Edward to himself later on, he thinks, as Edward runs his tongue along Oswald’s bottom lip, asking for entrance. He’s about to let Edward in when they hear the door open, and Edward jumps back as though burned, retreating to his end of the sofa. Edward’s attempt at acting nonchalant is so ridiculous that Oswald can’t help laughing. Edward mock-glares at him.

Martin comes down the stairs, and walks straight over to them, without setting up the video. He stands in front of them both, and does a rather exaggerated eye roll.

_I don’t mind if you cuddle, but no kissing. Kissing is gross._

Oswald and Edward glance at each other at exactly the same moment, both obviously thinking about how not-gross kissing is.

 _Okay, that sounds reasonable_ , Oswald signs. 

Martin nods once and goes to start the video. 

Since they have cuddling approval, Oswald beckons Edward back to his end of the sofa. They end up settling with Oswald sitting against the arm of the chair, Edward’s back laying along his front. Oswald likes sitting this way, it means he can wrap his arms possessively around Edward. 

Oswald had thought Martin would sit where Edward normally does, at the other end of the sofa, but when he comes back, he grabs a cushion and places it on the floor by their legs. Martin wants to sit closer to them. He sits cross-legged and smiles up at Edward before turning his attention to the film. Edward in turn smiles up at Oswald, and he grins back. They’re a family unit now. 

*

“I’ll get you Peter Pan, if it’s the last thing I do!” Captain Hook cries angrily. Oswald chuckles into Edward’s hair. 

“Is that what Jim Gordon said to you today?” Oswald murmurs quietly.

Edward snorts. “That’s more or less the gist of it.” He shakes his head with distaste. “Imbecile.” 

Oswald strokes his hair soothingly and places a small kiss on his cheek. 

Martin turns around immediately and points two fingers at his own eyes then at Oswald’s, the message clear: “I’m watching you.” 

_We’re sorry. It won’t happen again_ , Edward signs, sincerely.

Martin raises his eyebrows incredulously, before grinning and turning back to the movie. Another clear message: “yeah, right.”

*

_**A Year Later** _

Martin waits outside Miss Roberts’ classroom for his parents to be done with their meeting with her. He has been looking forward to this for days. It’s the first time his dads have visited the school together, and he can’t wait for everyone to see _who_ his parents are. A lot of the kids didn’t even believe he was Oswald Cobblepot’s son, even though Cobblepot is his second name, until they saw him at the first parents evening last year. So when he started saying the Riddler was his dad too, they definitely didn’t believe him. No one gets lucky enough to have not one but _two_ powerful and famous parents. 

Martin smiles to himself. _He_ does. 

“I cannot _believe_ she wouldn’t change his grade,” Edward says as he and Oswald finally exit the classroom. 

“He already had an A minus, Ed! You’re clearly overreacting!” Oswald doesn't sound annoyed though, if anything he looks amused.

“His work is flawless! He's the best student in the school! It should have been an A plus! All of his other grades are A plus!”

Martin stands up and they automatically make space for him between them. He takes each of their proffered hands, and Edward’s anger seems to abate somewhat at the contact. 

“Did you have a good day?” He asks, as they pass through the main entrance and head for the limo. 

Since Martin’s hands are occupied he just smiles and nods. 

“Good.”

Crowds of parents and children are arriving—Oswald and Edward had requested the earliest appointment—and they stare openly at the three of them. This is what Martin wanted, to see the unconcealed jealousy on the faces of his classmates, the expressions of bewilderment of their boring, ordinary parents. He looks around at everyone smugly. No one’s parents are as impressive as his.

Oswald and Edward don’t seem to notice though, they’re too busy doing that thing where they stare adoringly at each other. He can see them looking at each other over the top of his head. He’s not going to look directly at it though. It’s gross, especially since they’ve been together over a year—Martin thought all that staring would’ve gotten boring by now. 

When they get back to the Lounge, Martin heads towards the stairs. He has a lot of homework, and he wants to get it done before they have movie night later. He doesn’t want to miss spending any time with Edward. 

“Martin, would you come here for a moment? Edward and I would like to talk about something important with you.” Oswald calls after him.

Uh-oh. This sounds ominous. He wonders if he’s finally been caught using the drone Edward helped him build to steal cookies from the kitchen. 

Oswald and Edward sit at one of the booths with a small round table, and Martin takes a seat opposite both of them. Edward has a strange look on his face, and it’s filling Martin with worry. 

_You’re not going to break up are you?_ Martin signs, panicked.

“No of course not!” Oswald says. “The thing we wanted to talk to you about is good, I promise.”

Phew. It was bad enough when Edward left for Europe that time. Martin doesn’t want him disappearing again.

“We’ve been together a while now, and we’ve been trying to take things slowly, you know, because of our history of hurting each other.” Oswald begins, taking Edward’s hand. Martin nods his understanding, though he’s still confused about where this is going. 

“If we rushed things, it would only end up with all of us getting hurt again.” Oswald continues. “But we think it’s time now. And if you’re okay with it, Edward will come and live here with us.”

Martin’s eyes widen. Edward has gone very still, seemingly waiting for Martin’s reaction. Can this be true? Martin always hates it when Edward goes back to his apartment. He comes by the Iceberg Lounge more than he used to, but there are still full days when he’s not around, and that sucks. 

Martin gets up, edges round the table and flings himself at Edward, hugging him tight. Edward squeezes him back. 

_And this is definitely okay for you?_ Edward signs. 

Martin nods so hard he feels like his head might fall off. 

_Okay then._ Oswald signs. _Go and do your homework. We’ll see you in an hour for dinner to talk about your progress at school._

Martin nods again and, giving Edward one last big smile, turns away and heads for the stairs. 

“See I _told_ you he’d be over the moon,” Martin hears Oswald say, as he reaches the door. He steps through it and watches through the crack. They’re hugging, and they look quite emotional, the way they sometimes do around each other. After everything they’ve been through, Martin supposes, it makes sense that they need to comfort each other a lot. It’s a paradox, how they each have their own individual fearsome reputations, but in private they’re very caring and attentive towards each other. No one at school would believe him if he told them. Not that he wants them to know how sappy his parents are together. For one thing, it’s private. And for another, as it stands, no one will ever bully him again, because his parents are, at least publicly, terrifying. 

He has learned a lot about their relationship in the past year. Oswald showed him the gunshot wound on his stomach and told him how he nearly died; Edward described the agony of being frozen and trapped, as he slowly slipped away into a coma. They seem determined to maintain a level of openness, because it was secrets and lies that ripped them apart and caused so much damage. They seem resolute in their quest not to repeat the same mistakes, and their devotion both to honesty and to each other greatly impresses Martin. There are still some things they haven’t told him, things maybe they think he’s too young to understand, likely because he is only eleven. Perhaps he is, or perhaps there are things that are too personal to tell at all. But Martin observes more than they know; has watched them start putting the pieces back together and has seen them slip effortlessly into the rapport they must have had before, back when they were friends. Their level of understanding is so deep and complex, that their enemies could never hope to comprehend or manipulate it. They often do that annoying thing where they communicate without speaking, sometimes only needing so much as a glance to convey their thoughts to each other. They probably don’t think Martin notices, but he sees. He knows. 

Martin is old enough to understand that it will take more than a year for their wounds to heal; has considered the possibility that they may never overcome their past completely. But he recognises the way they look at each other--it’s the same way his parents used to look at each other before the accident. He saw it in Oswald all those months ago, whenever he talked about or looked at Edward. It hurts to think of his parents, and for some time, the thought of Oswald finding a partner, and the same thing happening again, stopped him from contacting Edward. Martin couldn’t go through losing his parents again; the mere thought of it paralysed him with fear. But he also didn’t like to see Oswald lonely or unhappy. And that was what eventually made him set his plan in motion. Because even if their story ends in tragedy, like his parents, at least they got to be happy for a while. 

But Martin thinks their odds are good, given what has happened already. Perhaps stories that begin as theirs did have better endings. 

Martin turns his attention back to the booth, where Edward and Oswald are still holding each other. 

“Welcome home, Ed.” Oswald murmurs, a gloved hand gently stroking the back of Edward’s neck. Edward’s response is simply to pull Oswald closer. 

Martin smiles to himself as he turns around and heads quietly up the stairs, leaving them to it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading ♥
> 
> [Tumblr](https://afirefromheaven.tumblr.com/)


End file.
